Floating skimmer

ABSTRACT

A floating surface skimmer particularly adapted for use with a floating pump housed by said skimmer. The skimmer is circular in shape and has a plurality of peripheral radial openings communicating with a central opening in which the pump is housed whereby each of the said peripheral openings acts as a weir. The height of the skimmer above a liquid surface can be adjusted to control the depth of liquid skimmed.

United States Patent 11 1 Tudor et a1.

[ 1 Oct. 2, 1973 1 1 FLOATING SKIMMER [75] lnventors: Adney J. Tudor;Edward E. Tudor,

both of London, Ontario, Canada [73] Assignee: Watermaster IndustriesLimited,

London, Ontario, Canada 22 Filed: Aug. 23, 1971 211 App1.No.: 173,994

[52] U.S. Cl.... 210/242, 210/D1G. 21 [51] Int. Cl E02b 15/04 [58] Fieldof Search 417/61; 415/7;

1 210/242, DIG. 21

[56} References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,701,429 Schell 210/D1G. 21

O'Brien... 2l0/D1G. 21

3,598,501 8/1971 Stanfield 210/D1G. 21

3,642,140 2/1972 Parker 210/242 3,534,859 10/1970 Amero ct a1 210/D1G.21 3,397,647 8/1968 Daniel 415/7 Primary Examiner--Samih N. ZaharnaAssistant ExaminerT. A. Granger Attorney-Arne 1. Fors et al.

{57] ABSTRACT A floating surface skimmer particularly adapted for usewith a floating pump housed by said skimmer. The skimmer is circular inshape and has a plurality of peripheral radial openings communicatingwith a central opening in which the pump is housed whereby each of thesaid peripheral openings acts as a weir. The height of the skimmer abovea liquid surface can be adjusted to control the depth of liquid skimmed.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Fig ures Pmmtnw 2 @ma mww 7 NTU 5 Wi 5 N M Z 1 6 m 7m 43 mm F Y B 2 m w MvM Agents FLOATING SKIMMER This invention relatesto surface skimmers and is particularly directed to a floating surfaceskimmer for use with a floating pump for skimming liquids.

Surface skimmers have been designed and constructed for the removal ofoil slicks and spills, chemical leakages and, in general, for theremoval of any floating substance such as algae, sludge, grease andsewage from the surfaces of liquids. Such known skimmers normallyinvolve the use of a plurality of scoops or baffles mounted on endlessconveyor belts or chains, or canvas belts adapted to be wetted by thematerial to be skimmed, and necessitate large ancillary supportingstructures such as barges or the like. Other known surface skimmers,used in conjunction with floating pumps, must rely on the pump flotationfor support andhave been found not only unstable but also subject toconstant adjustment in use.

I have discovered a simple floating structure which is adapted for usein conjunction with a floating pump and which is portable, selfsupporting in a liquid, efficient in operation, and readily capable ofadjustment for an optimum skimming operation.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention, the skimmercomprises an upper annular section having a central opening and aplurality of peripheral radial openings formed in its undersurface incommunication with the central opening, and a lower section having atruncated generally conical or cylindrical portion and a rimsubstantially coextensive with and adapted to be secured to theunderside of the upper section whereby the rim of said lower sectionforms a weir for each of said upper section radial openings and saidtruncated generally conical or cylindrical portion of said lowersection, together with the central opening fonned in the upper section,forms a receptacle for said pump.

It is a principal object of the present invention, therefore, to providea simple and inexpensive floating, liquid surface skimmer w hich'can bereadily adjusted as to depth of liquid to be skimmed. I

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a portable,liquid surface skimmer, readily adapted for use with a floating pump,which is reliable and substantially trouble-free in operation.

These and other objects of the invention, and the manner in which theycan be attained, will become apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in

which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the surfaceskimmer of the present invention in which a side suction pump,illustrated by ghost lines, is shown axially separated from the skimmer;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section taken along the line 2 Like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout the description of thedrawing.

With particular reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, there isshown a surface skimmer designated generally by the numeral 10 having anupper annular section 12 and a lower, truncated generally conical or,cylindrical section 14. Upper section 12 has a central to upper section12 by a plurality of connecting means embodiment of heightadjustment-flotation means.

such as bolts or rivets 24. A receptacle or well 26 is formed in thecentral portion of lower section 14 by conical or cylindrical wall 28,which is substantially coextensive with the inner wall 32 of the uppersection, and a protruding lip defining annular flange 30. Pump 18 isseated on flange 30, effectively closing the bottom of the skimmer, andis secured centrally within the skimmer by overlapping clamp plates 34held in position by eye bolts 35. Eye bolts 35 and handles 33 permitfacile transport of the skimmer.

Opening 38 is formed in upper section 12 and notch 40 in lower section14 to accommodate the hose 42 of pump 18.

With particular reference now to FIG. 2, upper section 12 comprises anouter shell 36 of a rigid material such as fibre glass reinforcedpolyester resin and is filled with a foam plastic 37 having theflotation characteristics of urethane. Lower section 14 preferably isformed of a rigid material such as fibre glass reinforced polyesterresin.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of my invention adapted for usewith a bottom-suction pump in which the central portion of the skimmeris closed and radial ribs 44 adapted to support the pump whilepermitting the flowof liquid into said pump.

A plurality of height adjustment flotation devices 46, preferably threein number, are secured to the top of upper section 12. by eye bolts 35gripping connecting rods 50. Each height adjustment device 46 comprisesa rod 50 which defines a circular opening for receiving cylindrical,liquid-displacement flotation cylinders 52 in frictional engagement. Thelevel of skimmer 10 can be adjusted by raising and lowering flotationcylinders 52, as shown-by ghost lines in FIG. 1, within the openings ofrods. 15.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of height adjustment device inwhich at least three open-bottomed cylindrical tanks 54, incommunication with a compressor 56 by air lines 58, are rigidly securedto the skim mer in the manner described with reference to FIG. l and thelevel of water in the cylindrical tanks 54 controlled by increasing airpressure to displace water out of bottom opening 62 to raise the heightof the skimmer, or by permitting air to escape through air line 58,whereby water enters by way of bottom opening 62 to lower the height ofthe skimmer.

In operation, a pump such as a floating centrifugal or diaphragm pump ispositioned in the cavity formed by central opening 16 and well 26 andlocked in place by clamps 34. The assembled unit floats in the liquid tobe skimmed, normally water, with the rim 23 submerged a desired level,such as about one-half inch to l inch, below the surface of the liquidsuch that the said rim functions as a weir. The height of the skimmer,and hence the depth of the weir below the surface of the liquid, can bereadily adjusted by the height controlling devices 46. As the pump isoperated, liquid flows over the several weirs into the pump suction andis discharged through the discharge hose 42 to a receptacle or pond in aremote location.

The present invention provides a number of important advantages. Theskimmer or skimmer with pump, can be readily transported by one or twomen. The plurality of weirs permits the skimming of a large volume ofliquid, in the order of 200 gallons per minute, and the depth of liquidskimmed and the level of the skimmer can be readily and effectivelyadjusted.

It will be understood of course, that modifications can can be made inthe preferred embodiment of the present invention as describedhereinabove without departing from the scope and purview of the appendedclaims.

We claim:

1. A floating surface skimmer suitable for use with a portable pump forskimming a liquid, comprising a floatable upper annular section having acentral opening, a plurality of arch-shaped cut outs formed in theunderside of said annular section and extending radially from saidcentral opening to the periphery therein,

a lower section dismountably secured to the underside of said uppersection, said lower section including a central receptacle having asubstantially conical or cylindrical truncated wall and a flange portioncircumscribing the upper edge of said wall, said flange portion beingcoterminous with the annular section of said upper section, and at leastthree flotation cylinders releasably mounted at three equally spacedlocations about the annular section and selectively adjustable to varythe height of the periphery of said skimmer floating above the liquid tobe skimmed.

2. A floating surface skimmer according to claim 1 in which said uppersection includes an opening formed on its upper surface and extendingradially from said central opening to its periphery to accommodate ahose connected to the pump when said pump is mounted on said skimmer.

3. A floating surface skimmer according to claim 2 in which said centralreceptacle has a plurality of radial ribs formed therein for supportinga bottom suction pump.

4. A floating surface skimmer according to claim 2 in which saidcylinders are in communication with a supply of air whereby air can beintroduced into or exhausted from said cylinders to controlthe liquidlevel therein for vertical adjustment of the height of flotation of theskimmer above the liquid to be skimmed.

1. A floating surface skimmer suitable for use with a portable pump forskimming a liquid, comprising a floatable upper annular section having acentral opening, a plurality of arch-shaped cut outs formed in theunderside of said annular section and extending radially from saidcentral opening to the periphery therein, a lower section dismountablysecured to the underside of said upper section, said lower sectionincluding a central receptacle having a substantially conical orcylindrical truncated wall and a flange portion circumscribing the upperedge of said wall, said flange portion being coterminous with theannular section of said upper section, and at least three flotationcylinders releasably mounted at three equally spaced locations about theannular section and selectively adjustable to vary the height of theperiphery of said skimmer floating above the liquid to be skimmed.
 2. Afloating surface skimmer according to claim 1 in which said uppersection includes an opening formed on its upper surface and extendingradially from said central opening to its periphery to accommodate ahose connected to the pump when said pump is mounted on said skimmer. 3.A floating surface skimmer according to claim 2 in which said centralreceptacle has a plurality of radial ribs formed therein for supportinga bottom suction pump.
 4. A floating surface skimmer according to claim2 in which said cylinders are in communication with a supply of airwhereby air can be introduced into or exhausted from said cylinders tocontrol the liquid level therein for vertical adjustment of the heightof flotation of the skimmer above the liquid to be skimmed.